fort_peck_reservation_indi Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I am in charge of a LEO agency here in Montana. i have had several reports of Mountain Lion citings in and around our towns. i had one report that the lion was "strolling down main street" about 3 a.m. in the town of Culbertson which has about a 1000 residents. However, these reports are sparatic as i only recieve a high volume of calls about every 3-4 months and then none. Last spring three colts were killed just outside of town by this lion and a yearling cow had recieved some large scratches along the side of its body. but we haven't had any reports of it killing any dogs or cats until this past month. The lion had mauled a dog that had to be put down by its owner. the owner lived about 7 miles east of town. i am new to lion hunting and tracking as i live on the plains here in montana my whole life. i have hunted this area for my whole life and only recall 4 lions being killed in the area. so, at first i just assumed it was a phenomenon but now i believe i have an actual lion in the area. so, i am open to any ideas from anyone with any experience in this field and if they could give any tips or pointers regarding first, keeping my citizens safe, second, keeping their property safe (i.e. livestock or pets) and third if any body has had experience in hunting these lions on the great plains. thanks for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinch314 Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Dont have any experience in hunting them but I know that they have a path that they roam of about 30 to 40 miles in my area. The female lion comes on my place and ran my horses through a fence and out on the highway and has been sighted and photographed on game cameras. Then she will leave and go on to the place where she mets the male lion and they mate then both of them leave and go back to normal hunting grounds. The male lion travels the mountains up around Daisy and has killed calves and family pets and deer. He also attacked a horse which had scratches real bad down his back. I would think that baiting the lion might work and have a game camera set up so you could see it. I know that has worked in my area because two of the babies or yearlings were taken this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Would think getting with the game officials in that area would be a good idea, however seems that they sometimes like to deny the existence of critters that are where they are not supposed to be. Seems to me that trail cams could help with patterning a cat, possibly baiting the cat to a site, have heard different opinions on whether or not cats will come to bait but have seen pics where some folks have had pretty good results. Cannot for the life of me remember the name(seems like it was furfinder) of it at this minute, but there is a device that some cammers use that puts out audio to draw in animals. Seems someone in Washington state on a site related to trail cam building was getting a good number of cat pics by that method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fort_peck_reservation_indi Posted June 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 so what would be the best bait to use? live or dead? also when these lions roam do males roam further, and are their roaming patterns larger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggs Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 (edited) I always assumed it was sight and then track sort of hunting. A friend of mine killed what would have been the Montana state record cat if it had eaten recently- thing was still huge (this was maybe 8 years ago or so). He and his guide stalked it for days on horseback until he finally shot it while it was treed. You have to think it's going to be very hard to hunt this thing. Have you considered traps? I'm sure putting out several baited traps would be your best bet. I'm don't know if your state allows trapping for them, and or if there is a season but perhaps you could get special permission considering the attacks you mentioned as well as it's close proximity to the town. If you do your research, there's probably a way to set them up or something that would reduce your traps being strung by yotes or wolves etc... Off the top of my inexperienced head, that's what I would do. Edited June 30, 2009 by muggs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coles Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 ive seen on tv where they had a trap that was like a huge live trap with a seperate compartment in the back for a live goat. the lion comes to the trap and goes in trying to get the goat and then the door shuts behing the lion. im sure somepeople would say this is unethical for the goat but i say whatever it takes to get the lion out of the country go for it. I dont know where you would get a trap like that but it might be easy to rig something of the sort like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinch314 Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I know of people that have used raw meat and also used there remaining deer carcasses to bait. As for the roaming patterns, from what I have seen from these cats around here is that both the male and female roam about the same distance and have about the same roaming patterns sizewise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Found a link to the call for setting up camera sets I was talking about. I was looking for furfinder, it is furfindr, here is a link http://www.wasatchwild.com/teaser.html. Have seen pics from guys using these things and they do seem to work for cats. Might be something to check into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OJR Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I have seen kills they have made when I was hunting. I've never seen one in the wild. Lots of tracks. The people who hunt them use dogs and once they see some tracks, they turn the dogs loose. It is one long and tough hunt. Washington state has banned hunting them, I think. Idaho still has a season for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 lions roam too much for trapping, imo. put the word out in some southern states (online) that you're offering a free lion hunt to some houndsmen. you'll have dozens of offers and the hounds will get the job done. lion hunting with dogs is about the only way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottb Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 Your best bet one this matter is to contact FW&P at the Glasgow office - (406) 228-3700, or the Havre office - (406) 265-6177, depending on which one you live closest to. You can give my local FW&P biologist a call at home if you want as he has tons of experience in dealing with mt. lions here on my side of the state. His name is Tim Thier - 406-882-4697, he will be able to get you going in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m gardner Posted July 5, 2009 Report Share Posted July 5, 2009 (edited) Most of the lion kills I've seen were deer and the lions didn't come back after the meat started to spoil so I don't think baiting will work. The bears clean them up usually. Like Steve said use hounds. They are made for short sprints and dogs can run them down fairly quickly. If they have moved into town something has changed. They have run out of space or food where they were. Sounds like they are getting bolder which is bad. I've seen two. I watched a failed attempt to kill a deer and the other in broad daylight crossing the road in town along the river during the peak of the drought in 2001,I think, in Colorado where I lived. Get professional help with hounds if possible. Mark Edited July 5, 2009 by m gardner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted July 6, 2009 Report Share Posted July 6, 2009 My understanding from dealing with a government trapper is that a male may have a 100 mile range. But the females with cubs (or kittens or whatever they're called) will do a lot more killing. BTW - We have one, or maybe more, that comes through about every 8 to 10 months. When it does the neighbors will lose 8 or 10 goats and I usually find a deer carcass or two. Never lost a cow, calf or anything large. And after 5 years of trying, the government trapper still hasn't got him. He did catch about 40 yotes the last time though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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